Current world events seen through the clarifying lens of the LORD's inerrant prophetic word. The Lord's Word proclaims a series of 'latter days' events leading to the second coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of His Kingdom upon the earth in this generation.

Sunday, October 9, 2016

The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ

The KING of kings

9 October 2016: The "apocalypse of Jesus Christ" are the first three words of a letter that John wrote to his fellow servants of the LORD God: ἀποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦς Χριστός. We understand these words better - with a capitalized definite article added - as 'The Revelation of Jesus Christ' which serves as a title for the letter. The full title for this letter is actually the first three verses of the letter which also self-identifies as being a book. As stated by the text, it identifies the letter/book as coming directly from GOD to Jesus who gave it to John "to show unto His servants that which must shortly come to pass."

Apocalypse, the Greek word for revelation, appears in the first sentence of this letter from God to Christ to John, but does not appear again anywhere in the text. From thereafter the text self-identifies as a prophecy, and that it came directly from Jesus Christ to John. This same sequence occurs in Galatians 1:12 where we are informed by Paul that the gospel he preached came direct to him by "the apocalypse (i.e. revelation) of Jesus Christ." Also, in the gospel of John we are informed that Jesus told those who heard His words directly that they were not His words, but those of "Him who sent Me" (John 12:49-50).

In both instances, whether from John or Paul, the apocalypse/revelation primarily informs us of its Divine origin, that it is from God through Jesus Christ, but not what the apocalypse/revelation is about. The letter/book 'The Revelation of Jesus Christ' is a revealing about what He, Jesus Christ, is soon going to do and the order in which He will accomplish those things. Those things were revealed to John approximately 1,920 years ago and we, his fellow servants indwelt by the Holy Spirit, can read all about them, openly, unhidden, in the plain text of this letter/book.

Praise God, for no longer are the servants of God in the condition they were in prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit, for at that time they could not then have understood the prophecies which we read today according to John 16:12-15. The bride of Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, guides us and informs us about things to come. Nothing is hidden from us, we see Jesus and we also see the Father (John 14:7-11). So also, these are not my words; I am not capable of such. These are the words of our Father.

So, the apocalypse/revelation of Jesus Christ is a letter and a book of prophecy, it came directly to us from God our Father, through Christ and John. And what good are His prophecies unless they are fully and completely understood by His servants? It is for the edification of the church, the bride of Christ, that all these things be plainly understood. John wrote in the book which bears his name as its title. "Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature."

The prophecy within the apocalypse/revelation of Jesus Christ, as stated above, is a revealing of what Jesus will do. Notice this... what will occur in the future has already been revealed! There is no unknown mystery here, it has already been revealed, 1.920 years ago in fact. And even further back in history, back in the Days of Nebuchadnezzar, did not God through the prophet Daniel reveal to him what would happen in the future? In Daniel 2:28 it is written, "But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days."

So you, my brethren brothers and sisters, do you think that God still hides the future of what will be from you? Are you in the dark about what will happen tomorrow? Are those things not to be known because only God knows them? If this is your current mindset then you are very sadly mistaken. God knew the end from the beginning, and He told Jesus, Jesus told John and John has revealed all of those things to us in specific sequence and detail, between chapters 1 and 22 of 'the apocalypse of Jesus Christ.'

These are mostly events we will not be here on this earth to witness with our own eyes, so we have been told of them in advance so that we may bear witness of them to those who currently have no real idea, no true concept, of what lies in the days ahead. These are things with which we can convict those who are not yet saved by the blood of the Lamb of the Truth that can and will set them free of the sin that binds them - hopefully in time to be caught up in the harpazo and remain with Christ forevermore.

Going into this prophetic book, tell me brothers and sisters about the letters to the seven churches. Specifically, what is unknown about their content? It's all right there in plain _______ (insert the language you know). Do you not know what Jesus looks like today, right now? You can read it in Chapter 1:9-20, all symbolism is explained fully.

Then there are the seven seals on the back of the book that only Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, was found to be worthy in all of Creation to open. Guess what, they are open! What part of the content of that book that had been concealed by those seven formerly unbroken seals remains unknown? And of the judgments which follow, is there any confusion about them? And so on, and so on.

27 comments:

We as the church/bride are without excuse today. With so many outlets to study what the word of God declares. I'm with Chuck B., Eschatologytoday is the place to be to grow in the knowledge of our Savior,Jesus!

I have been burdened of late by the Spirit against those who incorrectly teach that this prophecy/book is about the revealing of Jesus Christ.

In Chapter 4, verse 1, Jesus issues a command from heaven, "Anabainō hōde [Come up hither]..." to John (instantaneously John is spiritually in heaven) and then Jesus completes His statement "...kai deiknyō soi hos dei ginomai meta tauta [and (I) show you that which must be hereafter."

Sean, my experience has been that those who teach that revelation is a book about the revealing of Jesus Christ are very limited in their understanding. They dismissively say "prophecy is about Jesus" while they themselves discourage studying prophecy. They use that line "prophecy is about Jesus" as an excuse not to study prophecy. I see it all the time

1 Cor 14:20 Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.

Sean, I liked that you put this quote in your sermon. In every aspect of life we understand that it is only by gaining understanding on any given subject that we can apply wisdom and prosper. Yet, concerning the scriptures, diligence gives way to apathy. We may not have been all made scholars but we have all, who are born from above, been given the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. Gal 6:8b he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

For some reason it feels appropriate to revisit the Battle Hymn of the Republic this morning, even though that is obviously not scripture itself.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the LordHe is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored,He has loosed the fateful lightening of His terrible swift swordHis truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling campsThey have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and dampsl can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lampsHis day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnish`d rows of steel,“As ye deal with my contemners, So with you my grace shall deal;”Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heelSince God is marching on.

He has sounded from the trumpet that shall never call retreatHe is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seatOh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!Our God is marching on.

1 Corinthians 14, on the whole, is essential for providing understanding to those who've been incorrectly taught that The Revelation of Jesus Christ is unknowable.

Perhaps a better title for the prophecy/book might have been 'The Apocalypse by Jesus Christ,' or 'The Revelation by Jesus Christ.' Understanding this very basic point is critical to understanding what the prophecy/book has as its content and ultimately the understanding of that content.

Sean, I agree, too many people have heard or read something without checking it out. One thing that slows the churches growth is the unwillingness of teachers to admit when they are wrong. If they have sold thousands of copies of some book, they are not willing to say " oops, I was wrong on that subject". They cling to the error for prides sake.Our search should be for the truth, and when we find it, we should believe it.

I always liked the story of Nathanael, he said,"can anthing good come out of Nazareth", yet when he met and heard Jesus, he had a change of mind.You have shown important truths on the subject of eschatology and it is our responsibility to listen/ read, search and learn what Jesus has revealed.Thanks for shining light on the scriptures.

You all want to hear something awesome? At least I think it is. I have a friend who's graduating from a rehab house, he's been on heroine, anyway, he gave his life to christ a few months ago and yesterday he sent me a text saying "I been reading revelation but I don't understand it, can we meet up and go over the book of revelation so you can help me understand it?". Isn't that great?

I intend to do that very thing. What a coincidence that you decide to post a blog about the book of revelation, and at the same time a teacher I follow on YouTube started an inductive verse by verse study on revelation then at this same time my friend sends me the text asking to meet up and go through revelation! What an amazing coincidence. There's something that you can do to help me, you can pray that his interest holds up, and you can pray against any distractions. It seems that every time I have a prophecy study, or bible study, all sorts of distractions happen. Prayers are appreciated

Yes, the ministry you mentioned put out a 7 disc DVD set and a 100-page syllabus entitled "Breaking the Apocalypse Code."

The thing is, there has never been any 'code' for a Spirit-indwelt Christian to break in order to understand the prophecy God through Christ through John has provided to us. That is the entire point of why I have posted The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ.

Do you think God is pleased with that ministry for charging Spirit-filled members of the bride of Christ the sum of $75.00 to learn how he broke a non-existent 'code' which "reveals the mystery of the Apocalypse Code?" (What abject nonsense and hucksterism!!!) The word of God is big business? No here it ain't!

And, to be fair, there are dozens of ministries that do the same thing... charge people large sums of money to learn something which is freely given in the text of His Word. The sad thing is there are millions who have been victims of this kind of sensationalist scam and spent millions of dollars in victimizing themselves. I wonder if any of them were Berean enough to check everything "revealed' with the Word?

This kind of thing will NEVER happen here. Never.

I will not post your comment for this reason. The word of God is free, and it is freely understood by all who would use His Word to understand His Word.

My feeling is that things are ratcheting up and it looks like your limited nuclear war could be coming sooner rather than later! I pray for the Lord's will to be done and also for the Lord's Hand of protection on any one possibly affected by this.

Three days ago (Sunday) two Iranian-made, IRGC-directed "Kosar" cruise missiles were fired at the USS Ponce and the USS Mason from Houthi-controlled coastline on the Red Sea, not far from the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

The Mason fired three SM-2 missiles in defense of itself and the Ponce. Splash two Iranian Kosar cruise missiles.

A clash is coming, Strait of Hormuz may be next, as well as US strikes against the site in Yemen which these missiles originated.

I didn't know if you would post that information or not but I thought it was helpful in understanding all the symbolism. Anyway, I do have a question about that studyas well as others that teach the same thing. It has to do with the timing of theRapture. Many prophecy teachers are teaching that the Rapture will "probably"happen on the Jewish feast of Rosh Hashanah because of various reasons. The problemI have with that is the church and Israel are different bodies of people. Maybe theJewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah doesn't have anything to do with the Rapture?

I loved the Revelation posting and find it right on with every thing I have ever studied over the past 60+ years and I could just hug your neck royally for making it public!

As for the current war atmosphere now progressing very, very rapidly, I am drawn to be very alert to the who, what and why the news people are not telling all of us and I truly believe this mess with the upcoming election is a massive well organized coverup!

If all of that pent up emotion that is being wasted could be directed to the truth we could overcome every stupid trick in the world but instead we toss about from one sqirmishes to the next and wear our selves down in a futile wimper. I am anxious for Jesus and hopefully he comes on Nov. 8, before the polls open on the east coast!

I know Sean, it is not in the Domaine of Will to make that determination but I can still keep the date free from all other assignments, just in case.

Me too. Never have found a reason for the quiestential Church Age to be a part of the High Jewish Festivals and for the exact same reasons you listed! If anything even closely related would be the Barley related but even that is a stretch for me!

I’d like to ask something about the Ezekiel 38/39 battle. Sorry if you’ve already covered this I’m behind with catching up. I’ve listened to prophecy updates and read some articles about it and several people are on the opinion that both Isaiah 17 and Ezekiel 38/39 are very close and will probably happen almost at the same time or they will quickly follow each other. My question is about the following. Some people believe so that Ezekiel 38/39 is on the cusp and Russia will attack Israel soon! My problem with that view is: Israel still has walls and I doubt that they have a false sense of security right now. But people who think that Russia will attack soon argue that Israel already has a false sense of security because they trust their IDF forces. What do you think about this? Are those people right? Is it possible that Ezekiel 38/39 is on the cusp of fulfillment and Russia will attack Israel soon? (Or this “blooming” Iranian-American military conflict will possibly delay it…)

My view is that those people are absolutely wrong. Israel has by no means attained the specific conditions that Ezekiel prophesied would exist prior to the Magog military confederation's attempt to invade.

Eschatology Today has many pages of published and updated articles over the past 8 years devoted to the sequence of coming prophetic fulfillments, please continue reading them, as I am engaged full-time in watching rapidly escalating current developments.

He nora, I know that sean has referred to bill salus many times on this site, but he is very smart to do so. Bill salus has written many books which irrefutably prove that psalm 83 must occur prior to Gog/magog. If you haven't read any of his books, I very highly recommend them.

In Ezekiel 39:11-15, just five short verses in which the LORD God declares the exact location at which all of the dead and even shards of bone belonging the the destroyed armies of the invaders will be buried.

God identifies this land, a valley actually, as being Israel. Yet what part of Israel is east of the Dead Sea today? There is no part of Israel east of the Dead Sea today; all territory east of the Dead Sea belongs to the Kingdom of Jordan.

It is obvious that the Psalm 83 prophecy, as paralleled by those of Isaiah 11:14 and Ezekiel 28:24-26, will come to fulfillment prior to Ezekiel 38/39 and - at a minimum - the land of western Jordan will become Israel proper.

Thank you both for the link and for the info! I’ve read Bill Salus’ articles on this topic in recent years, I know about the book “Isralestine” as well. That’s why I felt so that the view I mentioned in my previous comment wasn’t right. As for the battle of Ezekiel 38/39, it feels close and way off at the same time (a few years away probably). The rapture could happen at any time of course but the final possible time for it will be around this battle. I’m just feeling so, (it’s been like that for a good while) that the rapture couldn’t come soon enough. I wish it would happen within a few months and I wish there wouldn’t be a possibility that we’ll have to wait many more years (even if it’s only 5 years probably)! This is just a wish, nothing more. That’s why I felt a slight hope that those who said that the countries of Ezekiel 38/39 will attack Israel soon (within a few weeks or 1-2 months) aren’t wrong concerning this length of time, even if their view and reasoning about the sequence of prophetic events were wrong.